DROUGHT — ANDHRA PRADESH. A bitter harvest of red chillies

Chilli growers are in great distress all over Andhra Pradesh and Telangana this summer. Prices have crashed from ₹12,000 a quintal last year to less than ₹5,000 this year, leaving them desperate to recoup the cost of cultivation, or at least cut the losses to the minimum.

The distress is more evident in the drought-hit Prakasam district than elsewhere.

The farmers there had invested much in raising the crop, and are now stuck with it, faced with the prospect of a distress sale at ₹3,000-3,500 per quintal. The State government is now giving an additional ₹1,500 per quintal, subject to a ceiling of ₹8,000 a quintal and 20 quintals per farmer.

The price support scheme is being implemented from April 20 at the Guntur market yard, the largest in the country.

But, it is not even a drop in the ocean considering the magnitude of the problem, say farmer representatives.

Ch Ranga Rao, a former Tobacco Board member and a farmer leader who has taken up the cause of chilli growers now, urges the State government to take up a full-scale market intervention scheme.

“Half-measures like the price support scheme will only benefit the commission agents and they will be of no help to the farmers. The government should buy up the stocks left with the farmers at the benchmark price of ₹8,000 or more through the AP Markfed (Marketing Federation) or some other agency and go to the rescue of farmers. Otherwise, I shudder to think of what the future holds. Already, four chilli farmers have ended their lives,” he has remarked.

A visit to the villages in Prakasam district brings out the magnitude of the crisis. Farmers at Pavuluru village who had taken up red chilli cultivation lured by the high prices last year and they are now regretting it.

P Subba Reddy has cultivated the crop on 9 acres — seven of his own and two taken on lease at ₹20,000 per acre. On an average, he said, he had spent ₹1,25,000 per acre and the yields have suffered due to drought conditions.

Against the normal yield of 15-20 quintals per acre, the average yield has slumped to 10 quintals per acre in his holding.

“There have been cases where the seed was defective, and the yields went below 5 quintals per acre. In such instances the farmer can’t even recoup the harvesting cost, let alone the total cultivation cost. Such farmers are leaving the crop in the fields,” he said.

V Hanuma Reddy, the district general secretary of the AP Rythu Sangham, explained: “Many dealers have sold defective seeds, especially of some of the premium varieties like Teja. As a result the crop has become susceptible to viral attacks in the later stages, bringing down the yield drastically. Drought conditions make the crop more vulnerable to pests.”

He complains that in spite of many programmes to educate them, the farmers do not maintain the receipts from dealers to enable prosecution. The government has little or no control over such companies or their dealers.

The cold storage units at Ongole, Guntur and other towns are full and there is no room to store the red chillies. The farmers dread sudden summer showers which can ruin the crop. Even in a few areas under the Gundlakamma reservoir, where the yields are reasonable at 15 quintals per acre, the farmers are finding it difficult to get storage space or to sell their produce at passable rates.

Virginia tobacco, currently being sold on the auction floors in Prakasam district, is fetching reasonably good prices, though this is an early stage.

“It may prompt farmers to switch over to the crop on a large scale next year in view of the bitter experience with chillies this year. We are impressing upon them the need for crop regulation,” said A Seshagiri Rao, a representative of a farmers’ association at the Vellampalli auction floor. Meticulous crop planning at the district level, enough institutional credit to farmers and a comprehensive crop insurance scheme are required, said farmer leader Rao.

“These measures have been suggested by umpteen committees in the past but the government pays no heed,” he added, urging the AP government to act swiftly at least now.

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